U.S. Olympians Compete in Social Justice Games

I’ve been a fan of the Olympics ever since I was a kid. I still remember faking an illness one day so my mom would let me stay home from school during the Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. I watched all day without even an ounce of guilt.

One of the things that is so great about these events is the amateur nature of the competition. Barring a couple of the large team competitions, these aren’t celebrity sports stars. They’re no-names competing in obscure athletic contests, whether it’s strapping blades to their feet and sprinting around in circles as fast as they can or tying themselves to a tiny sled and rocketing down an ice tunnel at break-neck speed.

That usually means you’re cheering for young kids who recognize the incredible moment they’ve been blessed to experience. Yes, they’ve undoubtedly earned their spot through hard work and dedication, but they mostly remain innocent of the narcissistic self-focus that so often accompanies athletes these days.

Or so I thought. Two recent stories indicate that the self-absorption virus may have settled on America’s Olympic delegation in disappointing fashion.

First came the embarrassing bigotry of U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon. Because Adam is gay and an Olympian, he apparently believes that entitles him to be bigoted towards those who don’t agree with him on LGBT issues, even when (or perhaps especially when) his target is as high-profile as the sitting Vice-President of the United States, Mike Pence.

Since Pence led the U.S. delegation to South Korea, he wanted to meet with Rippon personally so they could discuss the skater’s beef (which, by the way, seemed to center around the false assumption that Mike Pence funded gay conversion therapy which he did not). Rippon refused, and has become some sort of bizarre folk hero to the leftist media that hates Pence. To see just how bizarre and Orwellian this whole Pence/Rippon saga has become, check out this excellent assessment.

Then on the heels of that disappointing bit of “look at me speaking truth-to-power” Olympian self-promotion, came this one:

Speed skater Shani Davis has boycotted the opening ceremony at the winter Olympics after a coin toss was used to decide who would lead out the U.S. delegation.

The coin toss came down to Davis and luge champion Erin Hamlin. Hamlin won the toss, but rather than be happy for his female teammate, Davis took to Twitter like any social justice warrior would to express the true Olympic spirit:

“I am an American and when I won the 1000m in 2010 I became the first American to 2-peat in that event. @TeamUSA dishonorably tossed a coin to decide its 2018 flag bearer. No problem. I can wait until 2022. #BlackHistoryMonth2018 #PyeongChang2018”

You caught it, right? A “Black History Month” hashtag? Because obviously the coin toss between him and another Olympian who had received the same number of votes as him was an act of racism. Now all we need is for Erin to tweet back a #EverydaySexism and we can officially turn the Winter Games into the Social Justice Games.

I hope in 2022, he doesn't get more than his own vote to be the flag bearer. I would never vote for a "teammate" who is so self-absorbed, arrogant and such a bad sport. There is one flag bearer and a lot of quality candidates. What about the perseverance of Vonn through all of her injuries? What about the excellence of Shaun White? Hamlin is the first American female to win a medal at luge, at all. That is a significant accomplishment all by itself. America has had some excellent speed skates over the years. Judging by the interviews I have seen with Hamlin, she seems to be a reality nice person and I can easily see why her teammates would vote for her to be the flag bearer. Judging by Davis whinning and victimhood, I can see why a lot of athletes would not vote for him. This was voted by the athletes, not "the man", so I am not sure why is made at Team USA. The rule is a coin toss in the event of a tie and they followed it. Are they just supposed to pick him over Hamlin because he is black? Isn't it actually Davis' attitude that is racist, not the Team USA?

I love the Olympics for a lot of the same reasons you described. I won't let a couple of bad applies ruin the rest of it for me. There are still hundreds of athletes that embody the joy of the opportunity and the thrill of competition. Red Gerard and Chris Mazdzer are two examples.

Another example of how the left politicizes everything in life. And via education, media and entertainment, we’ve allowed our children to be completely brainwashed by the left. No one to blame but ourselves for letting it happen.